Character bound to dedicated server option

[Kali Maa]

Managing some of the players who cannot resist getting non portal item through portals by hopping servers, or players who play with a character that is really OP and not in sync with the rest of the groups progress is getting annoying.

I would really like to have an option to make it mandatory to let players have a character which is bound to a dedicated server and not playable outside of it.

Would be appropriate to give players a warning message when entering the server the first time.

[Zanderfel]

This should be more of an option rather than forcing it.

I get where you're coming from, and I do fully grasp what you're saying. I would be annoyed too if someone with end-game gear just showed up when everyone else hasn't beaten the first boss yet.

If it's an option that can be turned on/off by the server host, then it would least be optional, cause hell, what if you guys start a Hard Seed World (they do exist) and you wanna switch to a world that is more balanced, if this is forced then you're kinda screwed as you'll have to make new characters & everything for the new world.

Having it as an option is way better than forcing it (as a default unchangeable setting). And with this option, it would tell OP players "You need to start a new character to join this server". And if they wanted to join a server that allowed their OP character, then they have that option.

[Kali Maa]

Yes, your example is exactly what I mean of how it can ruin a game for 9 others.

I also said "I would really like to have an option to make it mandatory"
Like you also stated I really mean optional before starting a new server.

[神・Ragnar]

This could be a built in server option.. though I feel entirely each character should be locked to 1 world.. this world jumping is nonsense. Had a guy on my server talking on discord with another friend they were sailing in harsh waters he said well if i am about to die I will log off and switch to my local map and dump my items so i don't lose anything... the losing ♥♥♥♥ is part of any game.. when you remove the fear of losing, the game has not point

[Infern]

Or just make items "soulbound" to worlds. That way have it so ore is tied to the world so it can't be put into chests and cheesed the portal thing.

[Kali Maa]

@Zaph: fear is part of the game indeed and without server hopping everyone is equal in all ways possible.

@Infern if items are soulbound to worlds it would mean you can't take anything at all to other worlds as bringing a black metal swords to a new world would have the same gameplay wrecking effect. Bringing something like stacks of lox meat or serpent stews would also ruin the experience of players on a new world, everything is pretty well balanced (especially for an early access title) until someone brings late game items to an Eikthyr party.

But again, there are multiple options possible but they need to be made optional in the first place. Customization is everything :)

[Barick]

I agree with having an option like this for servers.

I love the idea of server hoping when playing alone though. I never abuse it but it's cool knowing you can change world without losing everything if you end up getting a really bad seed or if you run out of iron or something after a while.

[ohgoditburns]

+1

[Romaq]

Storing character data ON THE LOCAL CLIENT is a very poor design decision in my opinion. What if you have a server rollback because of something? Your client data is no longer in sync with your rollback, which makes a HUGE mess.

I'm also expecting that on my server, we will want to do a map wipe especially when new map mechanics kick in, especially being able to use what we have learned. Now everyone remember to DELETE the character you are using on this server so we can all start fresh together!

Dumb, dumb, dumb design decision in my opinion.

[Kali Maa]

How is something optional a dumb design decision precisely? Some people desire this option and it is nothing more than a selection option.

[Romaq]

Some people even think the earth is flat. The notion that the earth is a globe is optional. For some, desirable.

As a general rule, the game data for a multiplayer game includes the client data. That rule is in place for a good reason. That reason is so the server software can maintain the integrity and security of the game in question.

Valheim's server offers no integrity or security for the game in question. It isn't even an option.

[Kali Maa]

You are seriously saying it is not an option to have a message appear before entering a server that has 'this option' activated that warns the player by forehand and gives you a one time message:

"a new player character is required and locked exclusively to this specific server"

After entering with a fresh client side character a lock/link to this specific server is created. In case of a server roll back it simply matches the date and time with that character stored on the client side every time it enters. If this rule is not desired by the player simply don't play on that server that has this option on, again not that hard to understand or implement.

[Romaq]

It isn't *CURRENTLY* an option to DISALLOW something that, from a game server integrity standpoint, SHOULD be the option rather than the "default and only way this currently works."

That a game server's default operation should have the character data tied to the server and *NOT* to the local client to preserve game integrity should not be hard to understand and should have been the default implementation.

[Kali Maa]

But it isn't the default implementation for what ever reason I do not care about because I am not going to tell Iron Gate how to make a game work correctly, they probably had a good reason to do it the way they did.

However the solution I suggested still stands and is a fine and again optional solution as long as the player in warned before entering a server that requires a tied character, why are you so fierce against even calling this option a 'dumb, dumb, dumb design decision'? What does it matter, it works either way and why they did it the way they did is probably because a lot of people want to server hop, most people probably host there single player game file and do not play dedicated to begin with so the untied character design decision is not dumb and actually pretty logical in my opinion.

[Mr.Moo]

yeah i have finished playing this game till i see this or something happen to acknowledge the developer actually cares about the playerbase to this game. It could of been so much more. The thing that derailed the hype train was exactly this issue.

[Kali Maa]

Originally posted by Mr.Moo:

yeah i have finished playing this game till i see this or something happen.

It is very annoying to control this when hosting a server, today I had a grant discussion trying to figure out who brought in the cheat sword in to the server. Policing sucks.